Now playing at a public place near you: star birth, million-degree gas waves, outbursts on the sun, trips to chilly Mars and reports from Chandra, a spacecraft floating 86,500 miles from Earth.
This is “Visions of the Universe,” an exhibit opening tonight, with much fanfare, at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., created the display that will stay at the library through Dec. 2.
The Port Angeles Library is the only place on the North Olympic Peninsula to see the exhibit.
During the next two months, the exhibit will inspire two installations of the Starlab planetarium, a guided stargazing and local astronomer Ken Patterson’s “brief tour of the universe.”
To welcome “Visions,” Port Angeles High School and the library are putting on a party tonight, with music by the school’s Vocal Unlimited choir and Astronotes band, food and drink, nationally known speakers and activities for small kids, teenagers and grown-ups.
As usual at the library, admission is free, and the party will run from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.
John Gallagher, a Port Angeles High integrated science teacher, can hardly wait for it all to get started.
Visitors tonight will find a hands-on event, he said, with opportunities to build “soap-bubble universes,” and learn what stars are made of by wearing spectroscopic glasses.
After the Astronotes’ musical set from 5 p.m. to 5:30, Gallagher and other Port Angeles High School teachers will host a “Science Behind the Exhibit” discussion until 6:30 p.m.
Jean-Pierre Normand, a science fiction illustrator, will present his artistic visions of the universe, in a talk from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
And Donna Young, the lead educator for the Chandra X-Ray telescope, will step up to explain the life of a star in her discussion from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“[She] will thrill us,” Gallagher predicted, “with beautiful pictures of the universe from that telescope.”
The “Visions” exhibit itself is a traveling display that takes the viewer from the time of Galileo — 400 years back — to the era of the Hubble telescope and the Chandra, a detector of X-ray emissions from hot regions of the universe.
As the craft orbits Earth, the curious can follow it and view its photo album at http://chandra.harvard.edu.
Meanwhile, the exhibit’s 12 panels show dramatic views of the sun, the planets and other phenomena, while explaining how Earthlings’ understanding of the universe has changed over the past four centuries.
The panels make an artistic and spectacular display, Gallagher said.
After tonight’s grand opening, the Port Angeles Library will keep the energy up around the exhibit, with help from local science teachers and students.
“We’re going to have a 12-foot portable planetarium in here,” promised Paula Barnes, North Olympic Library System director.
The Starlab will be set up on two Saturdays, Oct. 16 and Nov. 20, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“The good people from the high school are going to do shows on the hour and the half-hour,” added Barnes, so library patrons can come in and learn how to find constellations, listen to star stories and experience the night sky in the daytime — again, at no charge.
On Monday, Oct. 25, “What’s Up?” is the name of a talk by Patterson, formerly of San Francisco’s Morrison Planetarium.
Employing pictures and models, the Port Angeles resident will take visitors on a flight from the Peninsula to the depths of the universe.
And on the night of Nov. 15, the Port Angeles High astronomy class will throw a star party, and show guests the constellations, the moon and Jupiter through their telescope.
The Port Angeles Library is one of just 55 libraries around the nation to host “Visions,” Barnes noted.
She believes she won the grant for it in large part because of the support Port Angeles High School planned to provide, and because Clallam County residents don’t have easy access to a planetarium or observatory.
Gallagher, for his part, sees “Visions” as a doorway to new understanding of the connections between humans and the rest of the cosmos.
“What more basic question could there be than ‘How did we get here?'” the teacher asked.
“Any answer to that question goes beyond Earth. Carl Sagan was famous for saying ‘We are star stuff.’ That is the absolute truth.
“Every atom in your body was originally forged in a star. Without a long-dead star that exploded somewhere nearby in space, there would be nothing on Earth besides hydrogen and helium.
“The only way to understand the story of us is to study the stars.”
Information about “Visions of the Universe” and its spinoff activities is available on the North Olympic Library System website, www.NOLS.org, and by phoning the library at 360-417-8500.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
